Photographers have not been near as well represented on my Friday Favorites in comparison to other artists and I discovered so many interesting photography sites a few weeks ago that I thought I would share the work of another photographer with you today: Geoffroy Demarquet. In what little searching I completed I could find little about this photographic artist beside the intriguing examples of his work…or at least little I could read since French is not my first language. Or my second…or third…or, you get the point.

I certainly do not need to speak the language to have an emotional response to his photography, however, and so I would like to share just a few of his images that I found interesting.

A large number of Demarquet’s images possess what I would personally describe as flow. Whether that be through the natural shape of the object, like in the tree image that begins this post, or in the many pictures in which he has his model bending or swaying or curving somehow–these images flow, the have their own movement.

The above images, and many others in this series, remind me of the scene in Elizabethtown where Orlando Bloom’s character is encouraged by Kirsten Dunst’s character to pull over to the side of the road and get out and dance. That arms stretched wide open gesture just seems to say ‘life’ to me.

There is an almost giddy playfulness to some of Demarquet’s imagery.

Whenever I see a green cast image like this I think of some of the scenes in Amelie that were colored with a similar hue. In addition I really like this shade of green.

There is such a sense of isolation to the above image that it is really striking. At the same time (and I apologize for the fact that Geoffroy Demarquet’s photographs keep conjuring up images of various films…it is just where the work is taking me) the image reminds me of a scene from the film adaptation of S.E. Hinton’s famous book, The Outsiders. You remember that film, don’t you? Or are most of you too young for that? There is a scene, or scenes, in a park that this image recalls to mind.

And although Geoffroy Demarquet does not have many images like the above on his site, I not only thought this one fit nicely with the green theme of the last few images but I also happen to really like it. I love the curve of the blades of grass. It also unfortunately reminds me that I need to mow!

And before we move on I just have to encourage you to really be looking at the textures of some of these images. The grass in the S.E. Hinton-esque image especially. Just look at the texture of that lawn.

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These two images come from a series Demarquet entitles The Schizophrenia. I just love what he does with the use of layers to create the mood of isolation? madness? Though possibly depressing and a bit on the creepy side I do find these images to be very creatively stimulating.

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Geoffroy Demarquet has a series called Diptychs and I really enjoyed the one below the best. Again you get this real sense of graceful movement and flow.

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There is a melancholy sadness and a somewhat ghostly nature to his photographs which probably makes him a more appropriate FF for the autumn as compared to in the spring. But I just really was amazed by some of these and just had to share them.

Is it just me (I have no doubt it is) or does the above image remind you of the crack in the wall in Edgar Allan Poe’s tale, The Fall of the House of Usher?

In many of Geoffrey Demarquet’s images, at least the ones that caught my eye, he has either a mysterious figure in the far background or a figure acting mysteriously. I like that this series of images have an almost ‘ghost-captured-on-film’ feel to them.

Again so much of what makes these images work and stand out is the texture. Whether Demarquet is capturing texture with his lens or working texture into the image afterwards it is that tangible, tactile quality that gives an added attraction to his work.

But for all the eerieness of those images, none scare the sh*t out of me like this one does:

It is probably just the parent in me, but don’t you just know that kid is going to fall off? Can’t you sense it?

I enjoy these images in which it appears that the person is standing at the edge of the world. I also enjoy how Geoffrey Demarquet sometimes adjusts the colors on his images to give them an over all one-color cast.

The waves at the bottom of this picture look so real, and so present, that I just feel like I could reach out and touch them.

This image combines both elements of movement/flow and texture that I have been focusing on. It is simply gorgeous the way her hair is flowing over her face and the focus and detail practically make each individual strand stand out. Beautiful image.

The relatively bright sky, with hints of blue, makes a change from the more melancoly (which I love) images with dark and brooding clouds.

It is certainly a contrast to the kind of spring we have been having the last few days to see these more autumn/winter like scenes of fear:

Rejection:

And death:

Isn’t that a great image? Reminds me of an alternate cover for the novel The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.

There is a painting by Michael Whelan which is possibly called The Arrival. In it a woman is sitting in some form of cylindrical ship that has landed on earth, or an earth-like planet, and she can see the world open up in front of her. This image reminds me of that, only with a darker mood. It also reminds me of this walking trail through an old railway tunnel that we visit when we go on our annual anniversary trip.

This one is ever so slightly more menacing with the silhouette of the guy in the tunnel. The first time I looked at this I didn’t see the guy and I jumped inside when my eyes focused on him. The pose of the woman and the way her hair appears to be done also conjures up images of El Orfanato, The Orphange (here he goes with the movies again!).

To lighten the mood (and of course to include a redhead) I had to show you this picture. Isn’t it both fun and stunningly composed at the same time? I have to wonder about the symbolism of the remote control in relation to the rest of the picture.

Lovely image–the organic shape of the female form as juxtaposed against the inorganic functional form of the building. I really like the way the clouds are reflected in the glass of the building. It is a vertigo inducing shot in some respects that has such an interesting look to it that it doesn’t even seem real.

Geoffroy Demarquet has a few polaroid images on his site and this is certainly my favorite of them. Light bulbs will forever be a favorite artistic object of mine ever since I saw the Royal Shakespeare Company perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Broadway years ago. They used light bulbs and umbrellas as very interesting set design pieces and props. Incidentally that version (see link above) is on DVD for purchase or rental. I recommend it, it is an interesting version of the play.

The polaroid image seques nicely into the above image. Don’t you just love that one? Demarquet has such an interesting way of composing his photographs and I especially like this one. The look on the girl’s face is absolutely priceless. This is certainly one of his most well done images in my opinion.

As I said before Demarquet has a bunch of these images with this model posing in similar poses against different backdrops. I generally enjoy the results and wish I could read more about why he does this or what the symbolism is.

Geoffrey Demarquet has few digitally created shots of this nature but I liked this one so much that I had to share it.

And that is today’s Friday Favorite. I hope you visit his gallery site to see many more examples of his moody, atmospheric and yet oddly fun photography. Few of his images were titled on his site though the one I am closing with was entitled “The ending…”. It is a perfect title considering the obvious implications of the picture and it says that in quite a powerful way. I like the mystery of it and again think he has a great artist’s eye when it comes to the composition of a photograph.

And so, given the title, it seems the perfect image to send you off for the weekend. Have a great one, everyone!